today's investment ideas. good morning. it's wednesday, october 17th. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: tech could top trading today. after the close, intel and ibm both sold off on earnings news. intel dropped mostly because of its forecast. ibm fell on a revenue miss. yesterday, investors applauded postive earnings news. that led to a rapid rise in stocks. gold and oil also joined the green parade. target is aiming for online price matching this holiday season. the president's housing re-fi program is expected to help one million home owners. and gm is working on an electric caddillac for 2013. todd horwitz of the adam mesh group is here to give us a trader's take on the big topics of the day. good morning to you. > > good morning to you. thanks for having me on. > > what are your observations so far on some of the tech earnings and earnings from

banks as well coming in? > > i think the earnings picture has been fair. remember, we downgraded a lot of these earnings coming in, so the beats are coming on less-than- expected numbers to begin with. goldman sachs yesterday had good earnings, but the stock sold off late in the day. we're starting to see some of the other banks and financials sell off. last night intel came out with their earnings, and they beat way down. the stock was trading lower. ibm had a pretty big miss. so, whatever beats we're getting are beating on downgraded earnings. so it's really hard to take a range here. the market itself is really just churning back and forth in consolidation. nobody is running back up to the upper edge off a natural bounce off the support here. > > what about the election? is that holding up trading in any way here? > > no, what's holding up trading is the market is so complacent that the market knows that it's never going down again. we have no fear of another crash. the fundamentals are all so wonderful because

jobs and all those other things are going well. so what happens when the markets do this and volatility comes out, the markets drift, and they tend to drift higher. dull markets always tend to drift higher. we are very similar to 2007. we're at five-year lows in volatility in the market, which creates less activity, and less trading, which keeps the volume down, which keeps the trading down. > > thanks for coming on the show todd. > > thank you. jobs and the economy both made it into the second presidential debate. last night in hempstead, new york, president obama and republican presidential contender mitt romney debated foreign and domestic policies, this time in a townhall format with un-decided voters. "we have not made the progress we need to make to people back to work. that's why i put out a 5-point plan that gets americans 12 million new jobs in 4 years and rising take home pay." "gov romney says he has a 5- point plan. gov romney has a 1 point plan and that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules." "any investments i've made have been in a blind trust. and i

understand they do include investmnents outside the united states and in chinese companies. mr. president have you looked at your pension? have you looked at your pension? mr. president have you looked at your pension? "you know i don't look at my pension, it's not as big as yours...it doesn't take as long...i don't check it that often." "look at your pension. you also have investments in chinese companies." the next debate happens next monday night in florida. the topic will be foreign policy. money talks in this election. matt nesto of yahoo finance is here via skype. good morning. please bring us up-to-date on campaign spending by the presidential candidates. who has the most money to spend? > > the latest federal election commission numbers show that president obama out-raised governor romney by about $10 million. but it doesn't seem like anybody is hurting for cash based on the sheer volume of advertisements that are being purchased out there. one little anecdote that i did read is, i think it was wyoming or morth dakota, one of the northwestern markets, very, very actively being solicited for ad purchases because you get a lot

of bang for your buck. there's something like 19,000 ads purchased over the past couple of weeks. > > we've been hearing reports that mitt romney has been holding his fire back so that he can just blitz with political ads into the finish. are you seeing signs of that as well? > > not yet. i guess we're not there. we'll see how this thing plays out with the debate. but it will be interesting to see the strategies here. there's always a lot of speculation in terms of who is doing what with their particular strategies. it looked like early on you could say that president obama was out with a big heavy early spend. that's pretty much well established. their whole goal was to define mitt romney before he could define himself. so, yes, certainly mitt romney is trying to save plenty of

money for a strong finish. > > matt nesto, good to have you on the show. we hope to have you back soon. thank you. > > my pleasure. what happens now that citigroup ceo vikram pandit and his top aide, chief operating officer john havens, have resigned? the news caused gasps of surprise on trading floors. but vikram himself reportedly says he was thinking of this for awhile and is leaving citigroup in good shape. but it was a bumpy ride to get there. "citi has been profitable now for two full years.." despite this message to investors earlier this year and citigroup's third quarter earnings of $3.27 billion, vikram pandit, the bank's ceo's resignation took effect immediately. "i think this surprised just about everyone." but jim sinegal, director of financial services research at morningstar, says pandit's tenure of the last five years has also seen the stock plunge 89% after a $45-billion taxpayer bailout. "a big part of it was the bailout. the added capital from the government diluted stocks and that was responsible for a lot of the drop in the share price."

but citigroup's share price has hardly changed since 2009. financial analysts weighed in: jeff harte at sandler o'neill said "this is more the board reacting to the share price and wanting a more hands-on manager in the ceo position." anthony polini of raymond james said, "vikram has some regulatory baggage for whatever reason, they had disagreements." but analysts say the biggest clash was between pandit and the turnaround specialists who became citigroup's new board of directors - in particular, chairman michael o'neill. "we actually hold the board in high regard. it could be that the board wanted to go in one direction and pandit wanted another way and it wasn't going to be resolved without pandit and his top lieutenant leaving." pandit's successor is mike corbat, who heads citigroup's

operations in europe, the middle east and africa. "from my perspective the focus on international will continue. another positive is that he's familiar with citi holdings, which holds the bad assets. good to have someone familiar with it in the lead role." in the post-financial crisis, analysts say the citigroup shake-up reaffirms that boards of directors are in charge, not ceos. some believe that's only going to increase under the dodd-frank act, which extends a more active role and legal responsibility to boards in the operation of a company. the exit of vikram pandit from citigroup leaves only 2 of the original big bankers still on wall street since the bailout days. jamie dimon of jp morgan chase and lloyd blankfien of goldman sachs are the only ceos out of 9 still standing. the original 9 recieved a cut of $125 billion in bailout money from the government during the financial crisis. since that time, the heads of merrill lynch, bank of america, wells fargo, morgan stanley, state street bank, bank of new york mellon, and now citigroup have all moved on. gap is shuffling its management team. a single executive will

now head the divisions for each of the company's brands, which include gap, banana republic and old navy. it's part of an effort to focus more on global operations. gap has been on a rebound, following higher profits due to the trendy colored skinny jeans that were a hit this season. an investigation has uncoved factory in china. foxconn manufacturers phones and tablets for apple as well as products for microsoft and hewlett-packard. teens as young as 14 were hired by the company as interns. foxconn says in a statement: "...these violations rest with our company and we have apologized to each of the students for our role in this action." china's minimum legal working age is 16. some sneaky fees are creeping into your bills. a new study reveals americans spend an average of $350 a year on hidden fees. that's according to bill guard, an online bill monitoring service. the company says these fees show up in small incriements on credit card statements, in subscriptions, memberships and more. "it's a growing problem,

especially when you look at the ability today for pretty much anybody to become an online merchant. with the new technologies on the market anybody can become an online merchant and the perpetuity for these types of deceptive charges is probably going to grow in the coming years." that was mary ann keegan of bill guard, who says that the consumer financial protection bureau is working to raise awareness of unfair billing practices. social security payments are going up only slightly next year. other than gas prices, inflation has remained relatively tame this year. as a result, retired workers will see a 1.7% increase in social security checks. it's the smallest adjustment since 1975. corporate earnings are pleasing wall street. yesterday coca-cola reported in, matching wall street estimates. revenue, however, was down in europe and asia. toy maker mattel posted a record profit just ahead of the holiday shopping season. at johnson and johnson demand for

prescriptions and medical supplies helped boost revenue. the company also raised its outlook for 2012. amazon is bulking up staff in time for the holidays. the online retailer is set to bring on 50,000 seasonal workers. thousands might stay on after the holidays. according to outplacement firm challenger, gray and christmas, retailers and restaurants are planning to hire more than 413,000 employees for the holidays, which is a 5-year high. microsoft's new tablet is pricing in, and it's cheaper than the ipad. the new 32- gigabyte surface tablet will sell for $499, about $100 less than that same version of the ipad. it hits stores october 26th. meanwhile, apple confirms the mini-pad will be revealed october 23rd. still to come, talk about the

fiscal cliff is coming from washington. now, money managers are wieghing in. that's later on. but first, how do you talk to an angel? bill moller brings us the right way to approach angel investors, next.

you've got the perfect idea - you just need an investor. the government figures there are around 250,000 angel investors out there, all looking for people - maybe like you - with good ideas. they want to write checks and bring your idea to

life. you have one, you really believe in it. so what do you need to do to get an angel investor to actually invest? let's talk with janet tavakoli, she's an investment risk analyst, and you're also the president of tavakoli structured finance. most people who knock on your door, do they end up blowing it when they pitch you? > > they do bill, because they walk in unprepared. they may have a product, they may have an idea, but they haven't yet gotten the patent. they don't have a business plan. they don't know who their competitors are. they don't know who their target market is. > > do they sometimes make big promises - "oh, it's going to be a billion-dollar seller." > > yes. in fact i had one game app developer come to see me who didn't have a patent on his product, he had outsourced the work to the ukraine and to pakistan, so he hadn't done any of the work in the united states. he had done things that would disqualify him for the angel tax credit in illinois, where i would be investing. and in his mind, none of that mattered because he was sure that facebook or yahoo would buy his company for a billion

dollars. > > so tell me janet, what do you do to present your strengths? what do they have to have in place? > > well, i think the first thing is, when people walk in the door, they should id themselves, because they're strangers to me. i don't know where they went to school, where they came from, and that's the most important thing. i am this person, and here is my product. if there's ever a time in your life to brag, this is it. if you've got a product and you love it, and your friends and your family like it- > > show enthusiasm. > > show some enthusiasm for the product. explain how it works. explain how you use it. explain how the users that you've given it to have used it. what they love about it. what i'll love about it. > > maybe the fact that it already has some traction out there. > > that's really important, because people who have designed a product need to have some idea and an eye for business. and the first thing you need to know is, do i have intellectual property that i can get a patent on? because you

want barriers to entry. you don't want something that everybody can copy. because then it's really not worth anything. so you want to get your provisional patent. if you don't have the patent, say you need help in going through the steps to get a patent, if it is patentable. and you need to know who your competitors are, has anybody else already built something like it? so you have to do a little of that research on your own before approaching angel investors to show that you have something that's valuable and that's worth investing in. > > all right, i've got an idea. let's get off camera, i want to talk to you about it. you bring your checkbook along with you? > > i didn't bring it with me, but that is no problem, because that can be remedied very quickly if the idea is a good one. > > very good. janet tavakoli. thanks so much. > > thank you. thank you bill. still ahead, what it means for your money if the u.s. edges over the fiscal cliff. that's next.

fears about the so-called fiscal cliff are growing among big- time money managers. jeff glenzer, who represents the association for financial professionals, joins us this morning with the result of a new survey of around 1,000 financial leaders. good morning. what's the top economic concern? > > the top economic concern really is that fiscal cliff. that's coming up very quickly, and our members are very

concerned about its impact if it's not addressed. 75% of them believe that if the fiscal cliff were to occur, that the economy overall would suffer, and 50% believe that their own businesses would suffer under those circumstances. > > how much of a role do money managers think the upcoming election will play? > > it's interesting, our survey doesn't really think it's the outcome of the election that matters so much as it is that they get past the election and the administration, whoever's administration that is, and congress, get back to washington and tackle tough issues like the fiscal cliff, as well as the long-term federal budget deficit. > > so there's a lot of concerns then i take it about the political tone on capitol hill with congress at odds? > > certainly, and i think that's why they're anxious for the election to come, not because they care too much about the outcome, but rather a belief that that might end some of the gridlock, which our

survey found was also a big concern of theirs, the lack of action in washington. > > you've done this survey in years past. how accurate does it tend to be? > > we bring together corporate treasurers, chief financial officers, vice presidents of finance, financial analysts - these are the folks who have their hands on the assets that investors have entrusted them with. so they are very in-touch with the decisions that have been made and will be made in the coming months about whether to just keep that money sitting in the bank or in reserve, or whether they're really going to invest it in hiring, expanding plants, really the things that will move the economy forward rather than just keeping it under the proverbial mattress. > > jeff glenzer. good to have you on the show this morning. take care. > > thanks very much for having me. just ahead, a trader who is bearish on the big banks and why. chart talk is coming your way next.

ñçbñ trader tim biggam of tradingblock joins us now for a

closer look at financial stocks and the healthcare sector. good morning to you. let's start with the financial stocks. what is your take on citigroup? > > i'm a little bit skeptical on citi, certainly post- earnings and post the pandit resignation. when i drill down into the earnings a little bit more, most of the beat certainly was on pulling forward that loan loss reserve, which in essence is kind of a piggy bank not only citibank but the other major banks have to kind of smooth their earnings numbers. so, on an ongoing basis, it's going to be a little difficult for citi to keep putting up the numbers they did this quarter. i think it's kind of a one time event. i'm a little bit bearish here and skeptical on citi going forward, as i am on some of the other banks such as goldman. same kind of thing there. beat on the top and bottom line raised their dividend, but a lot of that, again, due to that loan loss reserve carried forward. so, going forward i think goldman will have some trouble continuing on, certainly in this trading environment of low

volumes, and a lot of their business certainly has lost some of its margin. > > let's move on to those healthcare stocks. they were ramping up ahead of the debate. what's happening here post- debate? are these stocks a buy? they seem to favor president obama and the new healthcare reform. > > absolutely. we saw kind of that sell-off post the first debate, the kind of romney depression on some of these stocks. they've regained a lot of their ground here. around these levels i am a little bit indifferent. certainly they had a big move prior to the first debate, just on the fact that obama's re-election was all but certain. it's really going to come down to, if you listen to the experts, a handful of states here. so, i would probably wait to be a buyer on a dip or sell some puts to be a buyer on a dip, but certainly would not be an aggressive buyer at these levels given the runoff they've had over the past several months. > > nevertheless, there is a trader play for you. good to have you on the show today. that's trader tim biggam of tradingblock. > > thank you angie. that's a wrap for today. coming up tomorrow in movies & money, films starring hostages continue to reign at the box office. but this weekend, hollywood is adding in another kind of a thriller. from all of us at first business, have a wonderful wednesday.

. good morning, thank you for joining us, it still feels warm out there is it going to be even warmer today? >> no doubt about it, not as warm as today, we are good to go, 70s and 80s and some low 90s. good evening traffic is off to a good start, for the most part, we are still doing well, between walnut creek and oakland, nice looking drive there. also we are looking at the

freeway on southbound near 880, it is 429, let's go back to the desk. the largest cata moran and a look at the damage, and what desk it mean for the team? >> reporter: their heavily damaged boat drifted way out into the sea passed the golden gate and tow members spent the day towing it out. we do understand that boat is back here at team headquarters although it has not been lifted out of the water just yet. the cata moran was damaged and all of the am